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Rates Instalment System

The Masterton District Council divides your annual rates into four instalments. The rates instalment and payment dates remain the same each year and must be paid on or before the Last Day for Payment to avoid the addition of the 10% late penalty.

The relevant dates for each instalment are as follows:

Instalment No.

Period Covered

Last Day for Payment

1

1 July – 30 September

20 August

2

1 October – 31 December

20 November

3

1 January – 31 March

20 February

4

1 April – 30 June

20 May

Rate assessment notices for each instalment are sent in the middle of the month (approximately) before the last day for payment.

Payment of Rates

Manual Payment Your invoice can be paid manually by cheque (payable to Masterton District Council), EFTPOS, or cash at 161 Queen Street, Masterton, or your payment can be mailed to PO Box 444, Masterton, 5840. Please ensure postal payments are sent in time to reach our offices no later than the Last Day for Payment. Delays with postal delivery are not the responsibility of the Council and late payments will incur a 10% penalty accordingly.

Bank Transfers MDC also accepts payments by automatic payment (direct credit), telephone transfers, Internet banking, and operates a direct debit system on a weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. When setting up an automatic payment, payment should be to:

MDC’s Rates Account Westpac 03 0687 0271682 04

You must quote your six digit property number as the reference. If you own more than one property, a separate setup is required for each property. Please note that is your responsibility to ensure that the frequency and amount of your payments are sufficient to cover each instalment amount by the Last Day for Payment. Please note that the amount of your annual rates changes each year and therefore your payments need to be recalculated annually to ensure full payment by the due last day for payment.

Receipts Are not issued unless payment is made at the counter, or they are specifically requested. Should you require a receipt when mailing your payment, please return the entire invoice and indicate clearly that “Receipt is Required” in the tick box on the remittance advice.

Arrears & Penalty

Arrears You should not have rate arrears at any time. If you do have rate arrears, payments made will be receipted against the earliest outstanding amounts in accordance with recognised accounting procedures. Also, MDC may at any time list your arrears as a debt with a collection agency (affecting your credit rating for up to five years), contact any bank or person holding a mortgage over your property requesting immediate payment of arrears, or if warranted, commence legal proceedings to recover the arrears. Ultimately, if rates continue to remain unpaid, Council may sell your property to recover the rate arrears.

Penalties A 10% penalty will be charged on the penalty date based on any portion of the current instalment remaining unpaid. To avoid this late payment penalty, payment must be made by the Last Day for Payment as detailed on your annual assessment notice and in the information above. A further 10% penalty will be charged on the 1st of July on the total of any prior years arrears outstanding on that date.

Sale of Property & Subdivisions

If you have sold your property you are liable for all rates due at the time notice of sale is given. If you receive an invoice still in your name after you’ve sold your property, it may mean that the Council has not yet received notification of sale. Please advise your solicitor to issue the appropriate notification as soon as possible and return this assessment to the Council. If you are selling and pay your rates by direct debit, automatic payment, Internet or telephone banking, please contact the rates department on 06 370 6300 so that arrangements can be made to either cancel your current authority or to change it over to your new property.

Subdivision If your property is subdivided and any of the new lots sold off, you are required to pay rates until the end of the current rating year (30 June) for the entire property. The new owner will not receive either an annual assessment or invoice in their names until after the following 1st July (the next rating year).

Greater Wellington Regional Council Rates

MDC has an agency agreement to collect rates on the behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council. For more information about the work of the regional council or what their rates fund, please refer to the reverse of the GWRC annual assessment or contact Greater Wellington Regional Council on:

E-Rates Service

Our E-rates service means your invoice won’t get lost in the letterbox. We can email your bill and for extra peace of mind we can send early reminders before your rates are due. With e-Rates we use less paper and your invoice is always stored electronically for easy reference.